Lebanese Doctor Deported from US for Alleged Hezbollah Support

Deportation of Dr. Rania Aloya

• 🇺🇸 A Lebanese doctor, Dr. Rania Aloya, a kidney transplant physician at Rhode Island Hospital and assistant professor at Brown University, was deported from the U.S. on Friday.
• ✈️ She was detained at Boston's Logan International Airport upon returning from a family trip to Lebanon.
• 📱 Border agents reportedly found photos on her phone indicating sympathy for an extremist group, specifically Hezbollah.
• 😔 Dr. Aloya admitted to attending the funeral of Hezbollah's late leader, Hassan Nasrallah, while in Lebanon.
• 🗣️ She stated her attendance was for religious reasons due to Nasrallah's significance in her Shiite community, not political ones.

Broader Implications and Civil Liberties

• 🚨 This deportation follows the detention of Mahmud Khalil, a Columbia graduate student and negotiator in Gaza War protests, who the Trump administration intends to deport for alleged Hamas sympathies.
• ⚖️ Civil rights defenders view these actions as an assault on the First Amendment and freedom of speech.
• 😨 The deportations are described as having a chilling effect, reminiscent of actions taken in repressive regimes where political beliefs and protests are targeted.